Waking up
by purplecat21
Summary: Spencer wakes up to find himself in an unusual situation.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds.**

 **A/N : I finally got around to doing some editing of some small mistakes that were driving me crazy.**

 **I have been thinking about doing a sequel, but not sure? what do you guys think? yes or no?**

Reid woke up but didn't open his eyes straight away, he laid there for a minute and tried to get back to sleep but he felt hungry.

"That's weird" he thought, " I never wake up because I'm hungry" and he also realised that he needed to go to the toilet but at the same time he realised that, his bladder let go and he felt himself wetting the bed.

Opening his eyes he saw white fabric walls around him and fluffy lambs hanging above him. "What the hell is going?" he thought, he tried to call out to someone but all that came out was a long wail, like a baby's cry he thought to himself. He tried again and made the same sound as before. Now he was really confused

All of a sudden a light came on and Hotch appeared above him. "Good, Hotch will know what's going on"

"Shhh Spencer its ok, daddy's here" Hotch said as he reached down and picked him up and held him up to his shoulder patting his back.

"Daddy?" Feeling really confused now Reid did the only thing he could, he cried.

"Give him to me honey" he heard a woman say as he was passed into her arms. Reid looked up to see Emily and started crying again, he had no idea what had happened, the last thing he remembered was reading in bed after a long case.

"Sorry honey I was hoping to get him downstairs for a bottle before he woke you"

"That's ok honey I love our night-time feeds, everyone keeps telling me to enjoy them now because he won't be little forever" Emily said as the unbuttoned the front of her night gown. "Its ok baby" she cooed as she laid Spencer back in her arms and offered him her breast. His baby reflexes latched on as his adult mind realised what was happening and he pulled away and kept crying.

"I am not a baby and I don't need to be breastfed" he thought as Emily put him over her shoulder and started rocking him trying to get him to calm down "especially by one of my best friends"

"Here let me take him and change him first, maybe that's what wrong with him" Hotch said as he lifted Spencer into his arms. Hotch laid Spencer's head on his shoulder and patted his back as he walked into the nursery. He felt a weird sense of security as Hotch held him and he felt himself starting to calm down a bit as he was laid on the change table.

"This is embarrassing" he thought as his boss started undressing him and taking off his diaper. "Its ok baby, daddy's here, I'm going to get you changed into a nice dry diaper ok" he said in a soft calming way as he changed and redressed him.

Reid was still sobbing slightly when he was passed back into Emily's waiting arms. He decided that this was just a bad dream and that he had no other choice but to go along with it until he woke up. Emily laid him back in her arms and placed a nipple in his mouth, his baby reflexes took over once again as he tasted something sweet on his tongue and started sucking instinctually. He closed his eyes and hoped that he would wake up from this nightmare soon.

"Do you think that he might be getting sick?" Emily asked worriedly as she looked down at the baby in her arms "he seems really unsettled tonight"

"I think he's fine honey, I remember Jack being the same way at times" Aaron tried to reassure her.

After Emily had finished feeding him, Aaron took Spencer and put him over his shoulder to burp him before swaddling him and pacing the room for a few minutes to make sure he was asleep. After a few minutes he laid his son back in the bassinet, climbed back into bed and put an arm around his wife and fell asleep.

Reid woke up in the morning hoping to see his bedroom in his apartment, opening his eyes he was disappointed to see the fluffy lambs still hanging above his head. He didn't cry but laid there thinking about how this could have possibly happened. After a few minutes Hotch was standing over him, "good morning son" he said softly as he picked him up and carried him into the nursery.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After Aaron had changed Spencer, he took him downstairs and heated a bottle for him. Reid was just quietly watching what Hotch was doing and wondering why he was still stuck in this crazy reality.

When the bottle was hot enough Hotch carried him into the living room to the rocking chair and sat cradling Spencer in his arms.

"Breakfast time Spencer" he said putting the nipple of the bottle in his mouth. Spencer drank the milk while Hotch rocked the chair and talked to him. "I wonder when your big brother is going to get out of bed huh? Better be soon he has a soccer game this morning"

Once Spencer was finished Hotch burped him and carried him into the kitchen and put him into a baby chair that was on the kitchen table.

"Good morning Dad, morning Spencer!" Jack said as he entered the kitchen all dressed and ready for soccer.

"Good morning Jack" Hotch replied "what are we having for breakfast today?"

"Can we have waffles and strawberries?" asked Jack

"Sure buddy sounds good"

Reid watched Hotch cooking breakfast and making coffee, he seemed the total opposite of what he was like at work, more relaxed of course and smiling and laughing with Jack. Hotch had just finished the waffles when Emily came into the kitchen.

"Here's where all my boys are" She said giving Aaron a kiss and kissing Jack on the head before turning her attention to Spencer.

"How's mummy's adorable baby this morning? Have you been a good boy for daddy?" She asked leaning right down over the chair so she could kiss his tiny cheek.

"He's been the perfect baby, not one peep out of him, but he's very alert today, watching everything" Aaron replied

"Is he coming to my game today? He can watch me play!" Jack said excitedly

"Yeah we are all coming today, so we better hurry up and finish breakfast so we can get going, we don't want to be late do we?"

When they arrived at the soccer field Emily placed Spencer into a baby sling across her chest and sat down to chat to the others mums and watch the game. Being cocooned in the sling the only thing he could see was Emily so he lay there watching her and thinking how crazy this all was. He was now a small baby; although he had no idea how old he really was now.

"I must be pretty young if I'm still in a bassinet and still being breastfed" he thought "and when did Emily and Hotch become a couple? And get married?" He wondered if the team knew what had happened or how this had happened. As he was contemplating this he started to drift off to sleep when all of a sudden the crowd started cheering loudly, scaring him and he started crying.

"It's ok baby, did that scare you huh?" Emily said rubbing his back and leaning down to kiss his head. "it's about time to feed you anyway before you fall asleep again" She said as she opened her top and started feeding him. Thankfully the sling was covering them but Reid was still embarrassed to be doing this in a public place with the women all sitting around Emily talking to her like nothing was happening.

Reid had fallen asleep after Emily fed him and he woke up to Emily lifting him out of the sling and passing him to one of the other mums sitting next to her. "Oh, he is still so little..." the woman gushed as she rocked him and made faces at him. "yeah well he's only 9 weeks old and I hope he stays little for as long as possible" Emily replied.

During the rest of the game he was passed around to all the ladies who just couldn't resist having a cuddle with him. "Just like some sort of living doll" Spencer thought as he was passed to yet another woman. When the last woman started talking baby talk to him he couldn't stand it any longer and started crying.

"Who's upsetting my son?" Hotch laughed as he approached the ladies and took Spencer and held him up to his shoulder. Reid stopped crying and laid his head against Hotch and breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I hate to break this up ladies but we really have to be going" he said as he turned around "Come on Jack, let's go buddy"

"Coming dad" came the response from across the field as Jack started running to the car.

"I need to change Spencer before we go honey, then hopefully he will fall asleep on the way home, he didn't sleep for long during the game" Emily said. Hotch laid Spencer on the back seat and started to undress him when he got embarrassed and started crying again.

"shhh shhh shhh" Aaron said as Emily handed him a pacifier and he stuck it in Spencers open mouth. Spencer stopped crying and looked up in surprise. "Really?" Reid thought but oddly it was soothing and he couldn't cry with it in his mouth.

"That's better huh?" Hotch said smiling as he finished changing him and strapped him into his baby seat.

"Hopefully he will sleep until everyone arrives" Emily said as Aaron started the car. Until who arrives, Reid wondered as he started drifting off to sleep.

Emily carried him inside and settled him in the bassinet before going downstairs to find Aaron and Jack making cookies for their guests. She walked over to Aaron and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and leaned her head against his back.

"Why don't you go and have a rest before everyone gets here? You know they say that you should sleep when Spencers sleeping?" Aaron said twisting around in her arms and returning the hug.

"If I did that I would never get anything done" she laughed

"Jack and I can get everything ready for our guests, you go and have a rest, and I'll wake you in an hour, ok?" Aaron insisted

"Yeah mum we got this" said Jack.

"Ok you win, just an hour though, right?" She said as she made her way upstairs.

"Yes dear" Hotch laughed.

As she walked into the bedroom Spencer was starting to fuss in his sleep but as soon as she laid him against her chest he stopped and melted against her. She decided to lay down with him and she soon fell asleep with him laying on her chest.

Aaron came in an hour later and found them laying together on the bed, he took Spencer and laid him back in his bassinet and then leaned down to kiss Emily's head and wake her up

"Hey, you need to get up now they will be arriving soon" he said.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A short while later the whole team had arrived for dinner and drinks.

"Where is my precious bundle?" Garcia asked as soon as she had greeted everyone.

"He's still asleep" Hotch replied.

"Well he better be awake soon, I need my baby snuggles!"

Reid woke up feeling very uncomfortable, he had dirtied his diaper while he was asleep so he started crying so that someone would come and make him more comfortable. Hotch heard him crying through the baby monitor "I'll go get him"

"Can I do it please?" Garcia asked "Sure, go ahead" Hotch replied smiling

Reid stopped crying suddenly when he saw Garcia's happy face appear above him and then he realised that she was going to change his dirty diaper and started crying again.

"It's ok my little sugar plum, aunty Pen will have you all cleaned up in no time" she said as she picked him up and carried him into the nursery. She babbled happily to him the whole time and tried to get him to calm down. As she came back downstairs she passed him to Emily, "I think that maybe he's hungry, he normally doesn't react that badly to me"

"Don't worry about it Pen he will be fine with you after he's had a feed I'm sure" Emily said as she tried to start feeding him.

Now that Spencer had realised that the whole team was there, there was no way that he was going to let Emily do this to him in front of them, it was too horrifying to even think about. So he did the only thing he could, he started screaming and no amount of comforting would work. Emily finally decided that she would take the screaming baby into another room.

As soon as she went into the bedroom with him he started to calm down. "What was all that about? Just want some alone time with mummy huh?"

The team were all happily chatting away about plans for the upcoming leave they all had coming when Emily and Spencer came back into the room.

Emily passed a now quiet Reid into Garcia's waiting arms

"There's my happy bundle" she said as she cradled him to her.

"Why are they not discussing what's happened to me?" Reid thought "why can't they see that this is not normal?"

"So Em, when are you planning on coming back to the team? The bullpens too quiet without you" Morgan said

"I'm not sure I will come back yet, as much as I love working with you all I don't know how I would be able to leave Spencer when we have to go away on cases." Emily said looking at her baby who was now in JJ's arms

"I understand, it's really hard to leave them Em, but it's also very satisfying to know that you are helping other people save their children from these monsters we put away" JJ said.

"We are still discussing it but there is still plenty of time to make a decision" Hotch added " Come on guys lets go and start the grill" he said as the boys all walked out of the room.

"I just can't imagine leaving him at all "Emily said as Henry and Jack came into the room.

"Mummy can I hold the baby?" Henry asked

"Sure honey, just sit right back on the couch and hold out your arms" JJ said as she placed him Reid in Henry's arms. "Hello Spencer, my names Henry and when you get big like me and Jack you will be able to play with us ok? "He said "Ok mummy I'm done now" he said and JJ reached out to take him.

"Auntie Pen will take him" Garcia said jumping at the chance to have more cuddles with Spencer.

Spencer just relaxed in her arms and listened to the girls talking about anything and everything, including the baby version of him. "girl talk is really boring, no wonder babies sleep a lot" he thought

A short time later Rossi came in to announce that dinner was ready and on the table waiting for them. Garcia carried him into the kitchen and laid him in his baby chair that was now on the floor next to where Hotch was sitting and sat down at the table.

Sitting in his chair on the floor all he could see was everyone's feet and he could hardly hear what they were discussing at all and to top it off the smell of the bbq meat was making him hungry. "This is so unfair, I should be sitting at the table enjoying this with everyone, I shouldn't be like this" he thought angrily. He started fussing and crying softly out of frustration at this whole stupid situation.

"Is he ok honey?" Emily asked

"Yeah he's fine" Aaron replied reaching down to give Spencer his pacifier.

"I hate this" Reid thought

"He just wants to be included in the conversation" Morgan said

"And I bet he's just jealous that he can't eat this wonderful steak yet" Rossi said

"Well they're not wrong" thought Reid "and if I really am a baby now I'll be forgiven for acting like one" he thought as he spat out the pacifier and started to loudly cry.

Hotch calmly picked him up and held him in one arm, bouncing him slightly as he continued eating with his free hand. As soon as he was in Aaron's arms he felt himself calming down, he didn't want to calm down he was still angry but the soothing sound of Hotch's voice talking to the team and the way it made his chest vibrate slightly against his cheek was oddly soothing. "I suppose that all this cuddling isn't too bad" Spencer thought as he lay there looking up at Aarons face.

"Is he always that loud?" Henry asked Jack.

"That was nothing, you should hear him in the middle of the night!" Jack replied.

"See, he just wanted his daddy" Garcia said smiling at her boss.

"Yep daddy is already his favourite person, mummy's only good when he's hungry" Emily laughed smiling at her husband.

"Can we watch a movie before Henry has to go home, please?" Jack asked

"Sure honey" Emily replied "ask dad to put one on for you while I give Spencer his bath"

"Ooohh, can I help?" asked Garcia excitedly

"Sure Pen, you can get him ready while I fill the baby bath" Emily replied

Garcia undressed him and wrapped him in a towel and carried him to the bathroom. "well, this has to be nearly as embarrassing as being breastfed in public" Reid thought as she took off his diaper and lowered him into the water.

"There's my little water baby!" She said as she held him and Emily washed him all over. He was starting to forget his embarrassment as he realised how nice the warm water felt on his tiny body. All too soon he was lifted out of the warm water and wrapped in a soft fluffy towel. He was starting to get tired again and he started crying as Emily was drying him.

"It's ok baby, mummy will have you all warm and dressed in just a minute" She quickly dressed him in a light blue sleeper suit with little bunny's all over it then wrapped him in a blue and white baby blanket.

Now that he was warm and comfortable in Emily's arms he started to get sleepy and didn't even worry too much when she sat down with everyone in the living room and started feeding him, he decided he was too tired to care about the team seeing him like this anymore. "Maybe having someone take care of me for a change isn't so bad" he thought "and this time I have a father and brother too"

Spencer woke up as everyone was leaving and saying their goodbyes. Emily passed him to Hotch as she finished saying goodbye to everyone.

"Ok it's time for all good little boys to be in bed" Aaron said once their guests had left, Jack said goodnight to them all before heading up to bed. Aaron sat in the rocking chair with Spencer "Sleep time for you too little man" he said as he rocked him and hummed a soft lullaby.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Spencer woke up in the morning and found himself looking up at the fluffy lambs hanging above him again. Emily came over and smiled down at him.

"Good morning sweetie, you had mummy worried, you slept all night" Emily said quietly as she reached for him and kissed him on the cheek. She quickly changed him and then climbed back into bed next to a still sleeping Aaron.

Aaron woke up to see his gorgeous wife feeding their beautiful baby boy. He sat up and kissed the back of Spencers head and then kissed Emily. "So did I sleep really heavily or did Spencer sleep through the night?" he asked sleepily

"He slept all night and now he's starving!" Emily replied

"That's my boy!" Hotch said proudly "So what do you have planned for today?"

"I think we should go shopping, Jack needs new shoes, we need more diapers and I could always use some new clothes" Emily said smiling at her husband.

"Sounds good honey, and of course you can get whatever you want"

"Can I get something new too dad?" Jack asked as he jumped on the bed.

"Sure buddy, why not" Hotch replied.

Emily had finally finished feeding Spencer and she passed him to Hotch "I'm going to have a shower" she announced "Ok, save me some hot water" Aaron replied laying Spencer on his chest.

Spencer had a full belly and was warm and comfortable laying on Hotch listening to Jack talking about all the new things he wanted to get. As he lay there he started making soft sounds and he didn't even realise that he was doing it at first until Hotch held him up to look into his face and said "Is that right Spencer?"

"I think he's saying that he wants a new toy as well" Jack laughed

"Well then you can pick out something for him too ok?" Hotch said smiling.

When they arrived at the mall Emily tucked Spencer into his stroller and started pushing him, he couldn't see much from the inside of the stroller and he soon found himself falling asleep as they went from shop to shop looking for shoes for Jack.

When he woke up he felt hungry and uncomfortable, he looked up to see Hotch pushing him and started crying to get his attention.

"I'll take him and feed him and get him changed" he heard Emily say "I'll call you when I'm finished and see where you are" She put the diaper bag on her shoulder and picked up her crying baby. As soon as he was in her arms he started to calm down and a feeling of being safe and cared for washed over him.

Once he was fed and changed he felt much better and he was happy being carried in Emily's arms because he could see a lot more than he could from the stroller. She found Aaron and Jack sitting down at a small restaurant ready to order lunch, she tried to put Spencer back in the stroller but when she leaned down to put him in he started crying. He wasn't ready to be put back down yet he just wanted to be cuddled. "This is weird" Reid thought "I never liked being touched before, the baby part of my brain is obviously starting to take control" he wondered how long before he lost his adult mind altogether?

"He just wants you to hold him mum" Jack said

"Yeah it would seem so" she replied "That's ok I'll order something I can eat one handed. I should have brought the sling with us"

When the food arrived Reid was happily looking around over Emily's shoulder as she ate her chicken salad. When Hotch had finished eating, he reached for Spencer so Emily could drink her coffee.

Spencer started crying as he felt himself being taken away from Emily but once he realised that Hotch had him, he started to calm down and he stopped crying. "Don't you want Daddy today?" he asked "someone's clingy this afternoon" he said to Emily.

When they were ready to start shopping again, Reid forced himself to take control of his emotions as Hotch laid him back in the stroller. "I'm an adult, and I will not cry to be picked up again" he said to himself. Hotch noticed Spencers bottom lip starting to quiver as he laid him down so he quickly gave him his pacifier and was happy when Spencer took it and started sucking.

Spencer laid back in the stroller and looked around at everything he could see from his point of view as they went from shop to shop. Emily picked out some overalls for him and some new pyjamas then went to look at some new clothes for herself. Jack was looking at a new video game and Aaron stepped to the side of the stroller to get a better look when a woman's face suddenly appeared above him,

"Isn't he adorable!" She squealed scaring Spencer who started screaming. Hotch was there instantly, picking him up and holding him to his chest and patting his back.

"Shh Spencer, it's ok daddy's here, you're safe, it's ok, shhh" He said in a soothing voice as he glared at the woman. The woman took one look Hotch's glare and mumbled a quick sorry before hurrying off. Spencer buried his head into Hotch's chest and started to calm down now that he was safe with Hotch.

"Is he ok dad?" Jack inquired

"Yeah he's fine buddy, that woman just scared him that's all" Hotch answered still patting Spencers back in a soothing way. Spencer soon fell asleep in the safety of his father's arms.

Aaron didn't put Spencer down until they were getting in the car and headed home. As soon as the car stopped Spencer woke up and Emily carried him inside and changed his diaper and then tried to put him down on his play mat so she could put the shopping away but Spencer started crying as soon as she tried to leave him. As soon as she picked him up he stopped crying, "Well this isn't going to work" she said as she went back to the nursery to get the sling, she put it on and then laid Spencer in it while she unpacked the shopping.

Reid knew that it was irrational to want to be held all the time and he had no idea why he felt like this but the baby part of his brain just needed the physical contact of his parents.

"Is that better baby?" she cooed at him as she looked down at him and he gave her a small smile in return.

"Aaron, he just smiled at me!" She said excitedly as he entered the room.

"Really? Let's see if he can smile for me too" he said going over to his wife and son. He leaned over the sling and with a big smile on his face said "hi buddy, can you smile for daddy?" Spencer smiled up at him return.

"Hey he did it! Let me get the camera" Hotch said as he grabbed his phone. Emily laid him on the floor on his play mat and the three of them leaned over him and started talking to him and making funny faces trying to get him to smile.

"This is pretty amusing" Reid thought as his normally serious boss started blowing raspberries on his small stomach and was tallking in baby talk while trying to get a cute photo of him. Hotch finally got a beautiful photo of Emily leaning over Spencer as he smiled up at her. He saved it as his screen saver and sent it off to his team with the caption, "first smiles".

The replies from the team quickly came back,

"That is toooo cute" Garcia

"What a beautiful picture!" JJ

"'Wow I guess he takes after Emily then, lol" Morgan

"You have a beautiful family Aaron" Rossi

After a while of playing with his family Spencer felt himself wetting his diaper for what felt the millionth time that day and started crying. "Daddy's turn" Emily said "come on Jack, let's go and start dinner, what do you feel like?"

"Hotdogs!" Jack said excitedly.

Laying a still crying Spencer on the change table Aaron started to undress him, "What happened to daddy's happy little man?" he asked "maybe a nice warm bath will help" Aaron quickly got everything ready and gave him bath before putting his pyjamas on him and taking him back downstairs.

By now Spencer was starving again and he wanted Emily so he started crying. "Do you want me to give him a bottle?" Hotch asked walking into the kitchen

"No, I'll feed him if you guys can finish dinner without my help?" she said smiling

"I think I'm capable of cooking hotdogs and chips, thank you very much!" he said trying to sound annoyed but ruining it by smiling.

Spencer was nearly finished when Aaron and Jack walked in with a tray of hotdogs and chips and a stack of plates. "Dad said that we could eat dinner tonight while watching a movie" Jack said happily

"Sounds good" Emily replied while she burped Spencer. "What are we watching?"

"Star wars!" Jack said as he flopped on the couch

"Excellent choice" Emily said as Aaron handed her a plate with a hotdog and chips on it.

Not long after they had finished eating Jack fell asleep leaning against Aaron and he carried him up to bed. "Can you bring down a blanket for Spencer?" Emily asked quietly as walked up the stairs.

"Daddy's turn for cuddles" Aaron said as he walked back into the room and took Spencer from Emily. He swaddled Spencer in the blanket then sat back on the couch with Spencer in one arm and the other wrapped around his wife. Emily put Spencer's pacifier in his mouth and leaned down to give him a kiss on his tiny cheek before putting her head on Aarons shoulder. Hotch kissed Emily's head and then leaned down and kissed Spencer.

"Goodnight son" Hotch said, and as Reid looked up at his parents he couldn't remember ever feeling more loved than he was right now. That was the last thought that Spencer had before he fell into a deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Reid woke up the next morning sucking his thumb, he pulled it out of his mouth and opened his eyes expecting to see the fluffy lambs hanging above him but as he looked around he realised he was in his own bed in his apartment.

"So it was all a dream" he said to the empty room. Feeling a strange sort of emptiness he got up and then remembered that it was Monday and he had to go to work. Looking at the clock he was surprised to find that he had overslept and was going to be late if he didn't hurry up.

He quickly went about his morning routine and left for work. When he arrived at the BAU he went straight to the kitchenette for a cup of coffee. As he entered he almost ran straight into Emily and Hotch, "Good morning Reid" Hotch greeted him. Reid turned bright red as the memories of the dream came flooding back to him and lowered his gaze to the floor

"Morning Hotch, morning Prentiss" he said quietly as he made his coffee and rushed off to his desk.

"What's wrong with him?" Prentiss asked as they watched him go to his desk and immediately start working on his stack of files.

"I don't know but maybe you could try talking to him, make sure he's ok?" Hotch replied.

"Sure, I'll try" She replied

Emily made herself a cup of coffee and went and sat on the edge of Reid's desk, "So what's up Reid? Are you ok?" she asked

"Yeah I'm fine why?" he answered never taking his eyes off his work.

"You just seemed a bit freaked out when you saw Hotch and I in the kitchen and you practically ran away from us" Emily said taking a sip of her coffee

"Oh I just knew that I would have a lot of work to do and I wanted to get started" Reid replied hoping that she would drop the subject.

"Ok then. Well if you want to talk to me about anything I'm right here"

"Thanks Emily"

A few hours later Morgan interrupted him by throwing a scrunched up piece of paper at his head.

"Come on pretty boy, time for lunch" He said

"Thanks but I'm not hungry, I want to get all of this done" Reid replied.

"You need to eat Reid" Hotch said coming up behind him. "Come on we are all going"

"Yes sir" Reid answered meekly getting up and following the rest of the team out of the office.

Hotch watched Reid during lunch and he could tell that there was something bothering him, he was a lot quieter than normal and was having trouble making eye contact with any of them, as though he was embarrassed about something.

Hotch decided to find out what was wrong with him, "Reid my office" he said as he passed Reid's desk.

"Take a seat" he instructed as Reid walked into his office.

"Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?" he asked getting to the point straight away.

"What do you mean Hotch?" Reid stammered looking at his hands

"You have been quiet and withdrawn all day"

"I'm fine" Reid replied

"Really? You don't seem fine, and it's my job to help you with anything that might impact your work"

Hotch said calmly

"It's nothing that will impact my work, ok?" Reid said starting to feel like a little kid that was lying to his dad; he had his eyes still fixed firmly on his hands

"No, not ok, I know that there is something wrong and talking about it just might make you feel better" Hotch said

"Fine I'll tell you but its stupid really" Reid started "I had a really weird dream last night that I just can't get out of my head, that's all"

"What happened in this dream that has you so distracted?" Hotch asked

"I'd rather not discuss it Hotch" Reid said feeling his face turning bright red.

"Anything you tell me will stay between us and talking about it might just clear your head" Hotch said

Reid knew that Hotch wouldn't let the matter drop and maybe talking about it might make him feel better, "It's stupid really and you'll laugh at me when you hear about it"

"I promise that I will not laugh at you" Hotch said

"Well..." Reid started nervously"In my dream, you and Emily were married" he glanced up at Hotch to see how he was reacting

"Ok, that's a bit weird" said Hotch "Go on" he encouraged

"Well you guys also had a baby in my dream...a son..." Reid looked down at his hands as he continued "I was the baby Hotch" he couldn't even look at his boss to see his reaction. "I know it's stupid but it all felt so real, like I was really living through it"

"Well sometimes dreams can seem very real" Hotch said "so this is why you can hardly look at any of us? Are you embarrassed by whatever happened in the dream?"

"yes" Reid softly replied.

"Reid it was only a dream, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, you are the only one who knows the details of this dream" said Hotch

"I know but it also stirred up a lot of feelings for me, I never had a real family before. My mother loved me but couldn't take care of me like a mother should. It felt nice to have a family with a father and a mother that loved me and could take care of me and a brother to look out for me and... now that I'm back to reality... I just feel kind of alone again I guess." Reid said sadly.

"I hope that you know even though I'm not actually your father, you can come and talk to me about anything, and if you ever need anything I'll be there for you. I'm sure the others would all feel the same way as well."

"Thanks Hotch, I really appreciate that" Reid said

"You're welcome, now go get back to work and try to put the dream out of your head" Hotch said

"Yes sir" Reid replied. As he walked back to his desk he realised that he did feel better after talking to Hotch about how he was feeling.

By the end of the day Reid has started to feel better about the dream but he felt a migraine coming on. He took his completed files to Hotch and was then headed straight home to bed before he started feeling sick.

"Thanks Reid" Hotch said taking the files from him, "Are you ok, you look a bit pale?"

"Yeah I'm ok, just a migraine coming on but I'm leaving now anyway and it will hopefully be gone by tomorrow after a good night's sleep"

"Ok well I'm leaving now too so I can give you a ride home if you like?" Hotch offered

"Yeah that would be good, if you're sure you don't mind?" Reid replied

"I'm sure Reid, let's go" Hotch said walking out the door with Reid following him

During the short ride to his apartment Reid started to feel nauseous and as soon as Hotch stopped the car he jumped out and started vomiting on the grass. Hotch jumped out of the car and rubbed Reid's back until he stopped vomiting.

"Thanks Hotch" he said shakily turning back to the car to get his bag.

"Come on let's get you upstairs" Hotch said softly locking the car and following Reid into the building.

"I'm fine now Hotch, go home to Jack, I can take care of myself" he said

"I'm sure you can but I'll feel better knowing that you made it up the stairs without passing out" Hotch replied walking behind him

They had nearly reached the top of the stairs when Reid all of a sudden passed out and fell onto Hotch who caught him before he could hit the ground. Hotch hoisted Reid up over his shoulder and was surprised that he could easily carry him because he hardly weighed anything at all. When he reached Reid's front door he had to find the keys without dropping Reid which he somehow managed to do. As he unlocked the door and Spencer started to stir slightly, "its ok Spencer I've got you" Hotch said softly and Reid instantly relaxed.

Hotch carried him into the bedroom and laid him on the bed and he was taking off Reid's shoes when he woke up "Sorry Hotch" he mumbled as he realised what had happened.

"Its ok, now do you have anything you can take for that migraine?" Hotch asked

"There are some pills in the kitchen" he replied as he pulled the blankets over himself.

By the time Hotch had gotten the pills and a glass of water and returned to the bedroom, Reid was asleep. "Reid wake up, I have your tablets" he said as he gently shook him awake. "Take these and then you can go back to sleep"

Reid sat up and took the medication and then laid back down and was asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Hotch took a look at the young genius before leaving and couldn't help thinking how young he looked when he was asleep.

The next morning Reid woke up and found himself looking at the fluffy lambs hanging above him again. He started crying and Hotch was there immediately picking him up and holding him to his shoulder patting his back.

"It's ok Spencer" he said in a quiet voice "daddy's here" And instantly Spencer felt safe and loved and he wasn't sure he wanted to wake up.

The end


End file.
